Millennials Are Better Educated, but Poorer, Than Their Parents Were at Their Age

For all the bad press millennials get—especially about their behavior in the workforce—maybe it's time to step back and have a little empathy. According to data released late last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, millennials today have had more education but, on average, make $2,000 less each year than their parents did at their age.

Most states experienced an income decrease over the past 30 years—as you can see in this Census chart. States that saw growth in income? Many states on the East Coast, South Dakota, and Hawaii. Michigan experienced the greatest decline over the past 30 years—with a 26 percent drop in income for workers under the age of 35.

"Many of the cities with the largest declines in median income (Flint, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo) were industrial hubs undone by the demise of manufacturing employment," posits the Atlantic. "It's also worth pointing out that the United States has absorbed millions of immigrants over the past 30 years, often from poorer Latin and South American countries.... It's possible that, even as these young families have raised their own living standards by moving to the U.S. and contributed to a growth economy, their below-average wages, when lumped into the aggregate, make it look like native-born families' wage growth is worse than it really is."

Has your state seen a decline in median income over the past 30 years? Tell us what you think in the comments below.